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iPod To Eventually Hold All the Video In the World?
An anonymous reader writes "A senior Google exec has been talking up the prospect of iPods that can hold all the world's media due to the plummeting price of storage and its increasing volume-to-size ratio. Google's VP of European operations, Nikesh Arora, predicts that in as little as just over a decade's time, iPods will be capable of storing 'any video ever produced.'" From the article: "Arora believes, mobile is likely to follow the same path. 'Mobile is not going to be a different thing,' he added — and if the mobile industry is to capitalize on the growth of content, it would be wise to ape the development of the internet. He said: 'The mobile industry has to go through the same phases the internet has gone through... Mobile will have the same learning curve. It would be somewhat foolish to leapfrog the stages the internet went through.'"
I'm really tempted to save that article just so I can pull it out and show how naive people were back in 2006. If there is one thing time has taught me, it's that the volume of information expands in relation to your available storage. I mean 10 years ago one of our 500GB modern hard drives could have probably stored all of the video available on the internet with room to spare.
I do agree that an iPod like device could probably hold enough video (high quality video at that) to well exceed its battery life however (modern iPods have no trouble doing that with music).
I read the internet for the articles.
Imagine a video iPod with a nice little screen (640x480) and enough store for your entire video and music collection.
You can carry it with you anywhere.
Useful?
I can usefully take music with me, because I can *listen* while I physically perform other tasks - like being at the gym, sitting down at work while I code.
But *video?*
Video is much less useful, because to *watch* you can't be doing other things - your eyes are occupied.
So I think it's only useful for being portable in situations where you have to sit and *wait* and cannot do other things.
For me that means just one thing; waiting for the bus and maybe when I'm on the bus, if it doesn't make me feel ill.
For others, I can only imagine similar situations, e.g. being stuck on a mode of transport.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
It is correct as long as the ratio is storage volume / physical size. It is a bad choice of terms since it could also mean physical volume / storage size.
Yes, but he didn't talk about compression, resolution, frame rate or even how many colors in which you'll get to see it. :P
Seriously though, I agree with you. I think its just some guy making bold predictions to get attention. Like predicting flying cars, or colonies on the moon, plastic disposable houses, or android helpers, etc. Do what I do, and go 'yeah, maybe.. but I'll believe it when I see it.'
- Tempestdata